Renault Nissan’s Ghosn worried about increased Google control

The US technology conglomerate seems to pose worries for some automakers, according to Renault and Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn, as they grow weary of ultimately losing some brand identity by working with Google.

The tech giant is preparing its foray into the automotive industry by constructing its own business of autonomous vehicles and by implementing the Android software into cars via its Android Auto system.

Ghosn says benefits can be had from collaborating with Google, “but at the end of the day, I think all car makers are extremely cautious about maintaining control on their own cars,” he said during a Tokyo news conference. “We obviously don’t want to become just a kind of a simple common hardware,” Ghosn added. “We really want to keep the attractiveness of the product and the control on the product.”

Nissan, General Motors, Audi and Honda were among the first to join Google’s Open Automotive Alliance that has the ultimate goal of allowing the use of the Android operating system into vehicles. On the other hand, Nissan also competes with Google, as Ghosn envisioned 2020 as the date when the Japanese automaker will take to the streets with its own version of an automated vehicle.